On Wednesday, French journalist Gilles Favard sent out a series of tweets explaining Riyad Mahrez to Arsenal had really started to rumble. First there was a £30m offer, and then that went up to £35m, then Favard insinuated Mahrez could be an Arsenal player soon.
Favard works as a consultant for L’Equipe, and also appears on their TV shows. Sure enough, on Wednesday night he was on the box, and he reiterated his earlier claims about Arsenal and Mahrez.
Now, in all honesty, L’Equipe’s TV show has thrown up some big claims before, as have people who work for it. Not so long ago was the claim Pep Guardiola had met Manchester United in Paris, when he was on the verge of being announced at Manchester City.
That said, we’re not talking about something which pushes out a steady stream of nonsense, so it’s not a Punto Pelota or El Chiringuito.
It makes a big difference that the Mahrez story has made L’Equipe’s newspaper on Thursday, the Guardiola one never did. It’s also worth pointing out the article is credited to ‘D.D.’.
That would be Damien Degorre, who was last month co-credited on an article which said Paul Pogba told those close to him his wishes, and ‘clearly expressed his desire to complete the circle by returning to Manchester United’.
We gave that a lot of significance at the time because Degorre had interviewed Pogba that week, so he’d be pretty well placed. His scoop came through, and this was at a time when Pogba to Manchester United wasn’t nailed on.
Thursday’s L’Equipe backs up the £35m (€41m) Arsenal offer for Mahrez, who they say recently rejected a contract extension.
They claim according to someone close to the situation, Mahrez would be prepared to rock the boat to get his move to Arsenal. Though they believe a deal before the weekend is unlikely.
And then there’s RMC’s Mohamed Bouhafsi, the guy who revealed Anthony Martial was off to Manchester United before many in England had even heard of him.
Bouhafsi said Mahrez was ‘very interested’ in Arsenal, before further adding…
More than the interest of Arsenal, Mahrez especially hopes to join a great club. If a big club is interested (AFC/CFC ) it must act quickly
— Mohamed Bouhafsi (@mohamedbouhafsi) August 10, 2016
And then…
Leicester hopes to keep Mahrez. AFC made an offer, negos ongoing. It’s the game of the mercato. But there is only 1 winner at the end !
— Mohamed Bouhafsi (@mohamedbouhafsi) August 11, 2016
You don’t need to be a weather man to see which way the wind blows here. There’s talk from L’Equipe and RMC about what Mahrez feels, about what he thinks and is prepared to do.
That would suggest from which party the stories are coming from. Arsenal fans will hope it’s very much more than a Peter Odemwingie type exercise, Leicester City fans would obviously disagree.
This situation is very different now Degorre and Bouhafsi have backed it up, they won’t be getting their claims from thin air, that’s for sure.
It doesn’t really matter what anyone in England is saying, this is a French based leak clearly. Mahrez was born and brought up in France, deciding to represent Algeria, and made his name at Le Havre.
These leaks don’t reveal Leicester City’s stance, and quite how strong that is, and don’t profess to know far Arsenal will go, but it’s probably safe to say they show a big desire from one of the parties involved.
Of course, Arsene Wenger buying Mahrez would be like going shopping for bread and milk and coming back with steak and wine, but that’s not such a bad thing.
